A - Z 2021: Universe and human Stupidity



Welcome back!  Yesterday we were talking about how travel broadens our minds.

Today it's U is for


"Two things are infinite. The Universe and human Stupidity. 

...and I'm not so sure about the Universe."


This quote is by my good friend and fellow alumni Al. 

Alumni? Al?

Well, yeah! Albert Einstein and I attended the same college, roughly 100 years apart. 

Einstein wasn't the only graduate who ended up winning the Nobel prize. There were two others, less popular, and one fine day, in chemistry class, our teacher mentioned how privileged we were to enjoy the same fine education as the three Nobel prize winners. 

I blurted out "yeah, who were the other two guys anyway, everybody just keeps talking about Einstein?"

You know what that teacher said to me?

"Well, I can tell you who won't be the fourth!!!"

How rude! 

Back then I didn't even realize that the teacher most probably didn't recall the other names and just wanted to cover his butt. 

I did what good students (because everybody can't become a Nobel prize winner, and that's OK) do and did my own research:

  • Paul Karrer found out stuff about vitamins. To be exact, he confirmed the structure of ascorbic acid, which is the fancy name for Vitamin C. More importantly he identified lactoflavin = Vitamin B2, it helps the body to convert food (carbohydrates) into fuel (glucose), which is used to produce energy
  • Werner Arber worked on enzymes that are a fundamental tool for many different types of biotechnology, including DNA sequencing and gene cloning.

Back to Einstein. The city is proud to have helped him along his journey.




Don't be fooled by his genius achievements in physics and math. He failed French, didn't take English at all and barely passed Geography. 

He did, however, identify something about people: 


And boy, life keeps proving his point. Take the pandemic for example. Yes, it's a virus, and a medical challenge, but more so an intelligence test. Left and right, there's CovIdiots. 

Let's have a look at a couple of definitions: 

Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. 

Ignorance implies a lack of awareness, while stupidity implies the inability to understand.  

Ignorance can be removed by the acquisition of knowledge, while a stupid person is intrinsically so, and therefore difficult to reform.

Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

As we all know, it can be measured by taking a quiz.

People who don't do well with numerical series, synonyms and visual thinking will score low. 

As it seems, they are distinguished between idiots (IQ of 0 - 25), imbeciles (IQ if 26 - 50) and morons (IQ of 51 - 70)

So the real idiots are the ones who prefer to spread "facts" they found on social media and refuse to listen to experts.

Research by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger shows that underperforming individuals reach deficient conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it, however it leads them to hold inflated views of their performance and ability.

Doesn't this remind us of a someone who prided himself in having terrific ability? 

The one who thought Belgium was a beautiful city and praised the health system in Nambia.In fairness, geography is tough on other people, too:



How can they not recognize the USA though? Good thing the youngster is in the know! 

However, as long as they're decent people, I don't care whether they can name countries, and I think a certain someone will agree:





What do you think? Let me know below, and be sure to include your direct link to your post, so I can easily reciprocate.

Tomorrow's our day off. On Monday, we will catch flies. Will we be using vinegar? Find out!

Enjoy your weekend!

Comments

  1. Oh yeah, human stupidity is definitely infinite. I mean, the annual Darwin Awards (celebrating those stupid humans who take themselves out of the gene pool) always have a long list of people to talk about.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Isn't it interesting how someone brilliant like AI can not do well in certain areas. Clearly, he leaned into his strengths. I think that's true of may passionate people - they are "brilliant" in the things they love and sometimes let other things slide. Weekends In Maine

    ReplyDelete
  3. All I can say that I'm glad the self-described Beautiful Genius is no longer the President. Bullet dodged.
    Great last quote, that sums it up nicely.

    U is for Unfinished: https://www.anne-m-bray.com/blog/167843/atozchallenge-2021-u-is-for-unfinished

    The U shoe: https://repeatsamb.blogspot.com/2021/04/atozchallenge-2021-u-is-for-upton.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. I ran into more and more stupid people bringing up my special needs daughter. It made me proficient in sarcasm ...
    She is 6, "Does she have teeth?"
    She is 12 - "Can she eat?"
    She is 17- "Have you shown her to a doctor?"
    Seriously???
    Good thing I have given enough confidence to my daughter to be not affected by such comments though..
    https://www.chaptersfrommylife.com/2021/04/unlock-your-upgrade.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your posts are so funny and so apt Tamara.
    What can I say? AI was bang on the buck.
    Idiots abound everywhere but when the world is dealing with a pandemic, their lack of logic costs lives. That's sad and avoidable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I actually feel a dumb about a lot of things but I'm glad to hear Einstein wasn't a complete genius since he failed in other subjects.

    I know I'm not one of the smart people when I was temporary placed in a class full of smarter kids. I think public eduction didn't do me any good but at least, I know how to use a calculator.

    Have a lovely day.

    My A-Z posts are here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Covidiots is a great word. I've seen a few.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Agree.... just because you sleep in the garage doesn't make you a mechanic. Men are born ignorant, they are made stupid by education, or lack of. You already caught me on my understanding truths, so you might want to find out about the big Vicious Life Cycle


    Have a great day!
    Cheers,
    Crackerberries

    Cheers,

    ReplyDelete
  9. This seems like another version of "common sense is not that common." Love the Einstein quote. Thanks for that!

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  10. This was really entertaining. Yep, there are different levels of stupid!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so with Albert on this, and over the last year I've seen so many episodes of behaviour that definitely falls into the category of stupidity that I sometimes despair for the human race, but thankfully I also see things that reassure me for our future.

    ReplyDelete

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